Asustek, the Taiwan netbook PC company, will manufacture Apple’s CDMA iPhone, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. “A launch of a CDMA-based phone with Verizon this year is unlikely,” said UBS analyst Maynard Um on Tuesday, adding that he believes “a CDMA phone could be launched with other operators later in the year.” Those other telcos include China Telecom and Japan’s KDDI.
Apple is said to be developing a CDMA-compatible iPhone that would work on Verizon’s network, the Wall Street Journal had reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter.
A whole new AT&T model, made by Foxconn, may also be available in the summer/fall timeframe, reports the Washington Post. The two new devices will be exactly the same except the CDMA version will lack a SIM card, notes The Journal.
The Taiwan firm, Pegatron, will begin shipping the phones from next year, said the source close to Pegatron, who declined to be named as the plans were not yet public. The source could not confirm if the products would be for Verizon’s network.
“Pegatron’s been manufacturing on behalf of Apple for a while now,” said the source, noting Pegatron products include the iPod Shuffle music player.
Asustek has said it will spin off Pegatron in June, with the unit expected to list around then.
Verizon shares had jumped 3.4 percent in after-hours trade, while AT&T Inc, the current exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States, fell 2.2 percent.
According to comScore, AT&T has over 43% of all U.S. smart-phone customers, compared with 23% for Verizon. These customers are especially attractive because they generally pay higher monthly rates for data plans. In the USA, 42.7 million people own smartphones, up 18 percent from the August through October period.
